


At Night

by FlowerFly



Series: From Friends To Lovers [6]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Darcy Lewis, BAMF Darcy Lewis, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, SHIELD Agent Darcy Lewis, Tony Stark Has Nightmares, marriage fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-12-07 18:11:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18238463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowerFly/pseuds/FlowerFly
Summary: Tony sleeps. Darcy doesn't.





	1. Tony

_Tony sat on a sofa in his Malibu house. He couldn't move, Stane had used the sonic taser, a prototype Tony had made some years ago. The mentor Tony had loved (no, he would never admit that, not even in his dreams!) and trusted reached for the arc reactor. Tony felt the pressure in his chest getting lighter when the traitor drew out the bright little merchandise._

_Stane lowered his face close to Tony's almost like he was kissing him and smiled like death._

_\- Too bad you told Pepper. I had to kill her too._

_Tony felt like dying already._

_Stane stood up – just to jerk uncontrollably and fall down on the floor._

_Darcy stood behind him a taser (once again a toy made by Tony) in her hand and smiled victoriously. She took the arc reactor from unconscious Stane's hand and put it back into Tony's chest. Tony tried to move, but his lips and throat were all he could do._

\- P--pepper?

\- Pepper is not dead. She's with Phil, _Darcy said like it was the most self-evident fact in the world._

_She helped him up and they walked slowly (he leaned on her) down to the stairs to his workshop._

 

_He was in a cave in Afghanistan. His hands were tied behind his back. His head was bent down into a large bowl of water. He couldn't breathe. His head was deep in the water and if he breathed he would drown. The ten rings would kill him anyway. If he survived and did what his capturers wanted, he would be killed after the task was done._

_He held his breath anyway._

_There was no way out. Except --- the suit. Right that moment, his lungs burning and eyes full of water, he invented the idea of Mark One._

_This time his capturers didn't lift his head up._

_He heard the shooting. Hands around his head, back, neck and shoulders let go. Hands clad of liquid metal lift his up._

_Mark 51 covering bold curves that could only belong to Darcy, hovered in front of him._

\- Tony, are you all right? _The faceplate had an excellent sound system, it didn't change her voice at all._

\- Did I get the time machine work, didn't I? 

\- No, Tony, you're dreaming. 

_His hands were tied again, but now he was standing and in Aldrich Killian's secret laboratory. Maya Hansen lied on the floor after Killian had hit her. He was showing them a live hologram show about Pepper being injected with the deadly virus. Tony saw Maya rising slowly. Killian was so mesmerized of the burning Pepper, Maya could move out of Killian's sight, behind the table._

_She couldn't go far. He realized one of his captives had moved, he saw her and pointed her with a gun. He couldn' fire, though. He couldn't move._

_Darcy stood behind him clad in a black leather suit like Natasha, a sonic taser in her hand._

\- Everything is fine, Tony, everything is fine. 

_Nothing was fine. Everything was ruined. Tony had lost his mind and the suit had tried to attack Pepper and she had left the bedroom and there was nothing he could do, she was going to leave him, too. He walked after her into the dark kitchen. It was never really dark now when he had the reactor in his chest._

_She stood next to the kitchen table._

\- Pepper, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. _There was nothing else to say. There was nothing else to do._

\- Tony... _Her voice was different._

\- I will change. I stop making suits. I will be better. 

\- No, you don't. Don't say that. You don't want to stop making them. I don't want you to stop making them. _It was like an order._

_Darcy sat on the kitchen chair and ate pop tarts. She was wearing his boxers and his favorite t-shirt which was totally ruined but looked awesome on her. It wasn't dark anymore, it was morning or midday or afternoon. He walked to her and touched her hair._

\- And you're perfect the way you are, she whispered. 

Tony woke. Darcy lied next to him, her face almost facing him on the same pillow. Her eyes were closed and she breathed slowly, but he could read her well enough to know she was just pretending to be asleep. He touched her hair tenderly and whispered: 

\- You are absolutely perfect too.


	2. Darcy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy handling Tony and then some marriage fluff.

Darcy had seen Tony having nightmares so many times, that she knew what to do. When he was pressing his chest and breathing oddly, the worst thing to do was to wake him up. Because then he would leave to his workshop and avoid sleeping at all as long as he could. And he was quite good at staying awake. But not staying sane when staying up. And stressed, over-caffeinated (she didn't want to think other substances he used) head designer was a pain in the ass to work and live with. Even for Darcy who was an expert with weird difficult (crazy) scientist and who had learned to know and love Tony's many different states of mind. 

Bruce had taught her the trick. When Tony had this _oh no my chest hurts_ (well, it hurts because you press it yourself, genius!) _I've lost my arc reactor and I'm going to die_ nightmare, Darcy should not try to drag his hands away, but press his chest on both sides of the scarred area, which would ease the pressure in the middle. So that's what she did. It eased him a bit. 

\- P- Pepper?

That her _husband_ called yearningly for his ex at sleep would have bothered her if she hadn't yearned for Pepper, too. And she was a bit mad at him that they had broken up before she had had them both in bed with her.

\- Pepper is not here, she's with Phil.

She tried to stop him from going back to the same position and held his wrists. His breathing was even more difficult.

\- Tony, are you all right? She continued. 

The best thing about sleeping Tony was that it was totally possible to have a serious conversation with him. And he was more straightforward with his answers when asleep. It would be easy to get him to reveal serious secrets at this state. But when Darcy had found more about Tony, she knew she didn't want to know it all. Like she remembered him saying "You are mine like Pepper is mine and Jarvis is mine, and You and Dummy are mine." and some disturbing details he told Obie had said him. 

\- Did I get the time machine work, didn't I?

\- No, Tony, you're dreaming.

Once before, when she had said the same thing he had answered: "Good" and then fallen into a deeper level of sleep. Tonight wasn't that night. He was shaking a little and evidently not sleeping well. Darcy held him tight and then tried to soothe him by moving her hands slowly and gently on his body. 

\- Everything is fine, Tony, everything is fine, she whispered. 

Finally, he relaxed but turned away from her. 

\- Pepper, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. 

No, not this, not again! She hated this _I'm sorry Pepper, I'm a doormat, I'm not good enough for you_ version of Tony. She hadn't fallen in love with a man who hated himself. She felt deceived. She hated Pepper for making him feel that way even though her rational part knew it really wasn't her fault. 

\- Tony… She wanted to say she was sorry he had to go through whatever he was going through. 

\- I will change. I stop making suits. I will be better.

\- No, you don't. Don't say that. You don't want to stop making them. I don't want you to stop making them.

She said it too loud! He was waking up. 

\- And you're perfect the way you are, she tried to soothe him back to sleep. 

Then she relaxed her body next to him closed her eyes. She was quite good at pretending to be asleep. She could feel his open eyes on her face. 

\- You are absolutely perfect too, he whispered, and then continued even quieter: - I wholeheartedly support your career at SHIELD. 

Her eyes jerked open quicker she could realize. She was busted now, but…

\- Really? 

Was this too good to be true? Her work at SHIELD had been the first real, serious fight between them. They both had been really nasty to each other. Of course, it had ended him sulking and her doing what she wanted. And then the issue was just not talked about. 

On the other hand, in the long run, nothing with Tony had ever been too good to be true but even better she could have ever thought possible. Yet she had to ask: - Why? 

\- I've just given it a second thought. I need to make a suit for you. Several suits. 

\- So you admit being wrong? She teased. She hadn't forgiven him. 

He looked aside. Then he looked at her. She could see him well in the moonlight. 

\- I admit loving you more than anything, is that enough? 

Oh, that was definitely too much and too sweet. 

\- More than your work? And Pepper? She had to add. Not that she felt insecure, but just for teasing. And it changed his mood a bit for safer, snakier ground. 

\- So who's getting demanding now? 

She loved the smile in his voice. His hands were behind her neck and on her lower back. 

\- I'm Mrs. Stark, I can't be too demanding, I can get anything and everything I want, she echoed back his old words. 

She drew him closer with a force that showed who was going to be the boss tonight. Or this morning. 

He gave her a french kiss for an answer. 

\- I want you to have _everything_ you want, he whispered kissing her neck. - Anything you want, my brilliant, brave, beautiful, loving, caring… His kisses went down on her skin. -…wife. 

She screamed when he pressed _a certain_ spot with his tongue.


End file.
